‘Omicron could be dominant in France within weeks’

O Christmas not at risk if everybody is cautious: Official

PARIS: Omicron could become the dominant Covid-19 variant in France by the end of next month, the government’s top scientific adviser said yesterday, after both the country and United States reported their first cases.

The first known US case was a fully vaccinated person in California who returned to the United States from South Africa on Nov 22 and tested positive seven days later.

The French case, in the greater Paris region, was a passenger arriving from Nigeria.

US President Joe Biden is working on a strategy to fight Covid-19 this winter and sources briefed on the matter told Reuters one step would be extending requirements for travellers to wear masks through mid-March.

The White House also plans to announce stricter testing for international visitors.

French government adviser Jean-Francois Delfraissy told BFM television the “true enemy” for now was still the Delta variant, spreading in a fifth wave.

“We should see a progressive rise of the Omicron variant, which will take over from Delta” possibly by the end of January, he said.

“Christmas is not at risk if the population and decision-makers are all very cautious,” he said, reiterating that social distancing and a third, booster shot of vaccines were key.

The French Omicron infection followed a case found in the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion last month.

Airlines in the United States were told to hand over the names of passengers arriving from parts of southern Africa, a US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention letter seen by Reuters showed.

Much remains unknown about Omicron, which was first found on Nov 8 in South Africa and has spread to at least two dozen countries, just as parts of Europe were suffering a surge in infections of the better-known Delta variant as winter sets in.

Top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci on Wednesday said it could take two weeks or more to gain insight into how easily the variant spreads, the severity of the illness that it causes and whether it can evade currently available vaccines.

South Africa’s National Institute for

Communicable Diseases said early epidemiological data suggested Omicron was able to evade some immunity, but existing vaccines should still protect against severe disease and death.

World Health Organisation (WHO) epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove told a briefing that data should be available “within days” on Omicron’s contagiousness.

About 56 countries have implemented travel measures to guard against Omicron.

The United States has barred nearly all foreigners who have been in one of eight southern African countries.

Japan reversed a ban on new inbound flight reservations, revealing confusion between government agencies and the public over the country’s Covid strategy.

The European Union brought forward the start of its vaccine rollout for those aged five to 11 to Dec 13.

Britain and the US have both expanded their booster programmes in response to the new variant, although WHO said wealthy countries should instead share more vaccines with vulnerable people in poorer countries where variants are most likely to emerge as long as inoculation rates are low. – Reuters